By HOWARD McQUITTER II
Did you ever wonder what you would do if you had to fend for yourself after a holocaust and the survivors around you, whether you know them or not, are strangers? Similar to that question is what”™s going on today with the pandemic coronavirus where “normal” human encounters are truncated as if in clouds of uncertainty—social distancing, wearing masks, sometimes wearing gloves, confining ourselves to home or apartment, maybe daily watching the dreary stories of Covid cases and deaths on CNN. In these times where coronavirus faces you in its unseen and mysterious form wondering if that sneeze near you will infect you or the doctor or nurse hands on patients with coronavirus may turn up postive.
In “Lord of the Flies,” schoolboys escape a place crash in the ocean making it to an island. Ralph (Balthazar Getty) quickly goes into survivor mode by giving each boy an assignment. Shortly after each boy is assigned a duty, a rebel named Jack Merridew (Chris Furrh) decides to slip the campfire and, when the other boys go on search for him, they miss the chance to be seen by a helicopter. What follows is the group divides among themselves under the leadership of Jack, who is a tyrant. Under Jack”™s spell the boys resort to savagery of all kinds. All the boys went to military school but it”™s Jack who uses his training to control his group. He orders his boys to steal the possessions of Ralph”™s group. After the group is divided, Jack goes as far as a killing spree. And while Ralph tries to win back boys from Jack”™s group, Ralph is really no match for the evil Jack.
So, then today, in the midst of coronavirus when the world is turned on its ear, do people take Ralph”™s or Jack”™s route—or does society take some actions from both camps?
Cast: Balthazar Getty (Ralph), Chris Furrh (Jack Merridew), Danuel Pipoly (Piggy), James Badge Dale (Simon), Andrew Taft (The Twins), Edward Taft (The Twins), Gary Rule (Roger), Terry Wells (Andy), Barden MacDonald (Larry), Angus Burgin (Greg), Martin Zentz (Sheraton), Brian Jacobs (Peter), Vincent Amabile (Patterson), David Weinstein (Mikey), Chuck Bell (Steve), Everado Elizondo (Pablo), James Hamm (John), Charlie Newmark (Will), Brian Matthews (Tony), Shawn Skie (Rapper), Judson McCune (Luke), Zane Rockenbaugh (Tex), Robert Shea (Billy), Gordon Elder (Rusty), Bob Peck (Marine Officer), Bill Shoppert (Marine Petty Officer), Micahel Greene (Captain Benson). Director: Harry Hook. Writers: William (novel) and Jay Presson (screenplay). Cinematography: Martin Fuhrer. Music by Philippe Sarde. Rated: (R). Running Time: 90 minutes. This is a remake of “Lord of the Flies” in 1963. The 1963 version is the better of the two.
